


with all the speed he could encompass

by ironicallyinternational



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe-WW1, Angst, Auzzie kids n trolls, Banter, Gen, Humanstuck, based on the movie Gallipolli, be ready, ww1 au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-31 11:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3976744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ironicallyinternational/pseuds/ironicallyinternational
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Boy meets boy. Boy and boy get lost in the Australian desert. Boy thinks other boy is an asshole. Boy and boy split. Boy and boy go to fight overseas. Boy and boy await their deaths.</p><p>What else is new?</p><p>--</p><p>"Dave fuckin' Strider." Karkat says, tanned freckled face covered in scrapes and bruises.<br/>He's grinning through the blood oozing from his nose.<br/>Dave laughs and leans back.<br/>"Oh, wow, kid. 's like we were meant to be."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in the sweet summer breeze; i said

**Author's Note:**

> Written a million years ago, based on the film Gallipoli (1981) which is a real tear jerker and a very good movie.  
> You can check out the resumé if you want to spoil it for yourself, because I'll be splitting this long one-shot into three chapters. Enjoy.

–---

**(now)**

“I suppose”, General Harley says, frowning, “That it does sound rather pointless.” He considers Dave for a moment, twirling his moustache. Then he waves his hand absent-mindedly: “Oh, very well. Go tell them to call it off.”

Dave has barely shouted out the “Thank you, sir!” before he's already off, running as though his life depends on it. He's almost startled by the sincerity in his voice.

He stumbles across ridges, sweat pouring down his neck, arms and legs throbbing as he goes.

He pays no attention to the startled “Oi, watch it, mate!” he hears, nor to the loud explosions near him, because his mind has sped up to a blur of _run run run run_ and he's never ran like this, not ever, not even when Bro was still around because

_he can do it, he can save them_

and so Dave runs.

–--

**(then)**

“You lot can all go off and get killed. I'm not that stupid.” he says, sun-bleached hair gleaming white in the oppressive heat.

“Oh, come off it, mate!” John exclaims, eager eyes shining as he shoves him. “For country and glory, eh?”

Dave snorts. The steady buzzing of the wildlife drones on. “You mean for England's glory?”

“It can't be worse than here.” Sollux notes, nose wrinkling as his eyes survey their surroundings: dusty, endless fields of arid ground, three lonely, worn tents, and the constant, ever-present sun.

“Amen to that.” Dave says, digging his heels into the ground as he stands up.

His clothes are sticking to him again. He runs a hand through his hair, finding it knotted.

“So you're coming too?” Tavros asks, earnestly.

“Nah.” is his final response, bones cracking when he stretches. He squints at their surroundings before he continues. “But I sure as hell ain't staying here either.”

John watches him as Tavros pouts. Sollux watches the sky instead.

They stow away on the next train, hoping for adventure.

_Be careful what you wish for_ indeed.

–---

He enters the race for fun- he hasn't run much since (bro left and dirk died and he ran away) a long time agobut he figures it's a good opportunity to gain a little cash.

People look at him oddly when he strides past them, all tall limbs and dark glasses and skin too pale for their little rural community.

Still, he gives his name and finds his place and smiles to himself as the other competitors file in.

He runs.

He doesn't expect this scrawny local to rush past him and almost _fly_ over the ground, though.

The crowd cheers as they finish, and the kid grins to himself, flushed and sweaty and standing out like a sore thumb amongst the other country hodges.

Dave watches him.

He keeps on watching him as he goes to enlist, and then when some guy goes: “Hey, I know this kid! Vantas? His da would skin him alive if he knew- he's just eighteen, in' he?”

He watches Karkat Vantas leave, back straight and jaw clenched.

–----

He doesn't know why he offers, but by the time he's aware of it, they're both on a train to Perth.

“I know the city,” he says. “I can show you around.”

He doesn’t tell him that Striders never randomly extend aid to strangers. Dave has, now, without knowing what he wants in return.

They run after the train when it goes, leaping up and hauling themselves inside. The sun is already setting.

Karkat is fast asleep when the train huffs and puffs and stops.

Dave takes one look at the barren landscape and cruelly bright sun and realises _this is so not Perth_.

“Well, shit.”

Karkat's response when he awakes is a little more colourful.

–-----

“C'mon, Kark...Don't be stupid!”

Eyes as harsh as the glaring sun, Karkat turns once, teeth bared in a feral growl, and stalks off again.

Dave turns helplessly to the lone construction nearby: a tiny shack where a crazed, orange looking fellow lives, muttering to himself about 'them trolls' and cackling as they go off.

“You'll never make it, you know!”

Dave sneers at him, then stumbles off after Karkat.

He's a city boy- he can scale ladders and jump from roof to roof, he can lose someone in a maze of streets, he can disappear from a dead-end as if he had wings- but here in the middle of nowhere, he is utterly lost.

“Vantas, come on! We won't make it out here! Just wait for the next train!”

“Wait for two weeks out here? I'd rather die.” Karkat snaps, dark hair glinting and back stiff.

“Yeah, well you're doing great on that part.” Dave mutters.

He shifts his bag, looks at the endless stretch of desert, and follows his feet.

–---

They spend the night shivering. Dave has no idea where they are.

He's already panicked twice because they could even have been walking in circles, they don't _know_ , and they're relying on Karkat's stupid pocket watch slash compass thing, and they're gonna run out of supplies soon and this is _exactly_ the worst kind of situation he could find, exactly the kind of thing Bro had warned him against.

He grits his teeth and clears his dry throat and listens to Karkat's steady steady heartbeat as it beats and beats and beats its rhythm in the silence of the wilderness.

–----

“You're nothing but a coward!” Karkat shouts to the skies the next day, throat raw and eyes wet from the harsh whipping wind.

Dave feels angry energy burn him up.

(“Like a bleeding volcano”, Bro used to say. “You're gonna explode and destroy yourself sometime if you don't start keeping it under control.”

He'd been bleeding, lying on the floor, and he'd thought _I'd rather explode than be like you_ and then _all I want is to be like you_.

He’d never really gotten to figure things out with Bro.)

His feet carry him all the way to right behind Karkat from where he'd been lying on his back, what felt like hundreds of miles away.

(He thinks: “Rather a coward than dead” and steers his mind away from Bro.)

Out loud, he says: “The only reason I haven't knocked you out yet is because I don't want to drag your pathetic ass over to the next water point, kid.”

Karkat blinks at him, jaw still clenched, and Dave seethes.

They don't mention the “Great War” again until later.

–-----

“It's them miracles, son.” Gamzee tells them the next day with hazy, contented eyes as he watches them gulp down water.

Dave doesn't believe in miracles, but he'll accept that it's some god-damn good luck.

He'd thought Karkat had gone insane by his sudden shout- and honestly, someone that idealistic and righteous deserved to go insane- but when his lazy eyes had caught up with the other young man's keener ones, he'd noticed the tracks too.

They'd run like hell.

It was hope, it was exhilarating, and the pain from his aching bones seemed to push him even further.

The wild-haired merchant had taken one strangely unsurprised look and stopped his goats.

Dave, smacking his wet lips, gave him a weary glance over his darkened glasses.

“So how often exactly do you encounter a pale-ass city guy and some weird prairie kid lumbering across this god-forsaken desert?”

The merchant simply smiles unsettlingly.  
Karkat scowls. “I'm not a kid, dipstick! I'm barely two years younger than you!”

“Ah, the sweet smell of innocence.” Dave sighs, only because he knows it will tick him off.

Karkat growls.

Gamzee smiles.

–----

He drops them off not far from a tiny little town (the epitome of urban civilisation, dave says), near a grand old house surrounded by jarringly lush trees.

The girl sitting on the porch is the prettiest girl Dave has ever seen. It almost hurts.

Instead of telling her, he whistles a low tune.

She looks up, almond shaped eyes widening ever so slightly had she pauses in her reading.

“Miss, awfully sorry to interrupt-”

Neither she nor her sister, it appears later, mind the interruption in the slightest.

They usher them in, paying no attention to their grimy states even as they settle down amidst cristalline decorations and pure white carpets.

They sit around a coffee table, the girls' eyes darkened in amusement as the two recount their story, interrupting each other as they go.

(“Which is when Vantas is like, hey, this seems like a great ravine to fall down-“

“You mean when _you_ decided to try and lean your weight on me without warning-”

“I was trying to get my shirt off, Karkles, chill-”)

“So,” the younger sister asks, surveying them with her mouth quirked upwards (good lord, dave thinks, what a woman), “I'm guessing you adventurous gentlemen have other names than Karkles and jackass?”

She drops the word casually, like it doesn’t sound completely alien in her mouth. Dave grins at her.

“Karkat Vantas.” Karkat says. “Dave Strider.” Dave adds.

“Rose Lalonde.” she says, and gives them her hand to shake.

“Roxy.” says the other girl, laughing. And then: “Hey, Karkat- you O.K. over there?”

Dave turns. Karkat's eyes are wide.

“Rose Lalonde? No goddamn way...”

She stiffens slightly. It's almost unnoticeable.

Dave notices.

“You've heard the name before?” Roxy asks, smiling. Her eyes are intent.

He waves their concerns away, turning his own dark eyes on Rose: “Kanaya says hi.”

Dave watches, fascinated, as her composure disappears. He feels almost weirdly jealous of the way her world suddenly seems to revolve around Karkat only. “You know Kanaya?” she breathes out.

“Rose-” Roxy warns, expression still wary.

Karkat lifts his collar. Underneath hangs a silver pendant. The sign on it is the same one as on his compass.

Rose reaches out, almost as if in a trance, looking up with a startled expression when Karkat coughs lightly. She sits back, closes her eyes, then straightens.

“Well. This certainly is _not_ something I was forseeing.”

Roxy laughs. Karkat does too. Dave observes them, relaxes slightly.

The rest of the night goes by almost smoothly.

(Later, Dave watches Karkat fiddle with the pendant as they lie in the guest room. He doesn't ask. Instead, he listens to Karkat's steady breathing.)

–-----

They receive a kiss on the cheek from both the girls.

Roxy's is a little risqué.

(he vaguely remembers a roxy from long ago with dirk maybe and her eyes say yes but he doesnt ask because that is not something he needs to know)

Rose's is a little meaningful.

(he grins at her and her smile could cut through stone)

“They're pretty girls, huh.” is what Dave says as they walk down.

Karkat hums, eyes distant. His gaze on Dave is a little too knowing. “Yeah. Pretty girls.”

(Dave watches Karkat watching him and his brain whispers something about pretty boys so he stops listening.)

They say goodbye a little stiffly. It's weird going through so many emotions towards someone in so little time- from nothing to annoyance to hatred to awkward kinship to something like friendship.

Karkat shakes his hand firmly nonetheless.

(Dave watches him go, stomach twisting slightly, and thinks of Dirk. He needs a drink.)


	2. and so we find each other (here in a strange faraway land)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Egypt, Turkey, old friends and new ones.  
> Dave and Karkat go camping with their good friend Death.
> 
> ("It's like you want me to throw you off this cliff."
> 
> "Shut up, Strider, seriously. The only thing you dislike here is that you feel like you're part of a team. Listen to my gasps of horror!"
> 
> "Can you really blame me for not enjoying the sheep experience? I don't exactly to feel too fond of sitting around like cannon fodder in storage."
> 
> "If you two could stop arguin' like an old married couple, some of us are tryin' ter write home!" Eridan shouts plaintively. Dave snorts. Karkat hisses.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two, in which the scene is set and everything is fun and happy. Old writing is old.

He's flipping through the newspaper, fingers stained dark with ink, when a familiar voice greets him. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Dave bleedin' Strider."

"Egbert?"

John grins, teeth as bucktoothed as always and blue eyes twinkling.

"If you're not going to fight with uth, you might ath well buy uth a drink, athhole." Sollux says, lisping more than usual.

(hey, who knocked you up this time, dave laughs later)(id ask him to tell you, but he cant talk anymore, sollux replies smugly)

He does. He tells them about what happened, and they laugh, and they tell him about signing up and Tavros getting lost in the camp and John's sister Jade nearly getting into the corps herself and Sollux having gained a horde of bees that mysteriously followed him around.

It doesn't come as much of a surprise to him when he ends up joining with them.

–--

(He stops by at the flat.

Arthur looks up, unsurprised as always. "You enlisting?"

Bro used to call him Kiddo. Dirk called him Hal. To Dave, he is AR.

Dave nods. Hands him a wad of bills. "Keep the flat clean for me, all right?"

AR snorts. "Sure. I'll wait for you. And Bro. And Dirk, while I'm at it. Sounds like a plan."

Dave sighs, takes off his shades.

It hurts to look at him, because he looks so much like Bro (and dirk too of course and why is dave always the one that doesnt fit the pattern), and he wonders if that's not his fault, if its not his efforts to be like Bro that made AR into this younger Dirk.

"I'm sorry. I'm a terrible excuse for family. And you deserved way fuckin' better than this."

He means it, honestly he does. AR is all he has left of his family.

AR looks at him hard, then he puts down his tools. "You're all that, yeah. But I reckon you're still doing a pretty OK job at being the older brother."

"AR-"

He looks _so_ much like Dirk when he speaks again, and that's even _worse_ -

"Don't die on me, Dave, please."

Dave gives a weirdly strangled breath. AR is suddenly there, and then he's crushing him to him like he can make them stay like this forever.

He's only sixteen, sixteen, and Dave was sixteen when Dirk shot himself neatly in the forehead (for some pretty pretty boy that they’d never even got to meet) and Bro disappeared like he'd never been there.

He holds on tight.)

–--

Egypt is a new world made just for them, young lads with harsh accents and sure they'll live forever.

The training is hard, but Dave is fit, and his ever so slightly insolent remarks get looked over by the superiors because he's _good_. He's fast and strong and has a steady hand and a great aim. He's _good_.

They roam the streets in their free time, laughing at the British officers with their posh accents and cold eyes, stealing knick-knacks and climbing ruins as they go.

In the evenings they talk to the Egyptian girls with their lowered lashes and smooth voices.

The officers warn them against "them foreign gals".

Of course, they don't listen.

Dave ends up sipping a sickly sweet tea next to a dark haired young woman with a laugh like a hyena.

"I'm Dave." he says by way of greeting.

She grins sharply, eyes dark and dangerous. "Terezi." is what he understands.

He grins right back at her.

"That your sister?" he asks, pointing to the other girl not far away, currently busy roping John and Tavros into her spider's web. Terezi throws her head back and cackles.

"Sisters!" she exclaims, then nods. "Yes, _Dave_. Vrrrisska is sssisterrr."

Dave follows her away, later, her chalk-dusted fingers tugging on his wrist. John and Tavros are led away by _Vrrrrissska,_ whose sharp teeth and swinging hips are both intimidating and appealing.

Maybe it's something these scourge sisters share.

("I'm going to call you the scourge sisters" he tells Terezi later, just for fun. She is delighted. "Scouurge. _Scourge_."

Her dancing eyes make him feel like she understands the word.)

John looks amused and Tavros petrified when they leave.

Only Sollux remains, mouth twisted into a scowl almost by default. His gaze is pensive.

Dave knows he's thinking of Aradia.

He loved her so much that it scared Dave, who doesn't think he's capable of ever loving anything that much. He's too selfish.

Dave turns away from Sol, following Terezi down the winding street.

He can't quite say that he ever regrets it.

–---

When it's announced they'll be "attacking" some lads in the Australian Mounted Corps as part of training, the same smug smirk appears on every soldier's face.

"The Mounted boys are always looking down on the infantry, everyone knows that." their officer says, marching in front of their neat line.

("whether it be figuratively or literally"dave mutters to john.) ("quiet, strider!" shouts the officer. dave salutes.)

"But strip their horses from 'em, and what are they? A bunch of gangly little twerps sent off to play war!"

("as opposed to us, the stunningly experienced and mature military men" dave adds.) ("strider!" "yessir?")

"It's about time you lot get in there and show them who's the real fighting force here!" shouts the officer. A roar of approval greets him.

("which just goes to-no, nothing, sir")

Creeping up on them is easy- great bunch of guys sitting by their horses, hardly discreet- and they're outnumbered by far, as John points out.

"That's unfair, though." Tavros says, brow furrowed.

Dave goes "Oh, _really_? How _tragic_." so sarcastically that Sollux chokes on his water.

"CHE-AAAARGE!" bellows the officer, and then it's a frenetic run down the slope, firing wildly into the stunned troops.

It takes them a moment to recover before they're on their feet, but by then the horde is upon them.

Dave knocks over some prick wearing a honest to god purple _scarf_ , gets a few good blows in on some creepy sweating guy, then launches himself at some kid that's at least a head shorter than him.

To his surprise, the kid is quite the little hell-hound- he hits Dave in the jaw so hard he can feel a bruise blossom, and isn't that a pleasant surprise (no one in his regiment can do that on their own, dave was taught by the best), and the tussle gets seriously intense and suddenly Dave has the guy on the ground and would you look at that-

"Dave fuckin' Strider." Karkat says, tanned freckled face covered in scrapes and bruises.

He's grinning through the blood oozing from his nose.

Dave laughs and leans back.

"Oh, wow, kid. 's like we were meant to be."

"Don't call me a kid, you city boy!"

The tussle continues to be intense from there onwards.

–--

The officer shakes his hand, looking apologetic. He's young, probably around Dave's age.

Dave gives him one look and decides he's a military kid.

"No. I'm sorry, lads, but I can't just change ranks around that easily. If you were brothers, maybe, but..."

He's got a delightfully posh accent.

Karkat eyes Dave through his lashes, frowning, then turns back to the officer.

“We ran together, though. We’re running partners.” Karkat lies, smooth as anything.

“Yeah, me and Kar- made the others bite the dust, didn't we?”

Dave leans forwards, peers at him over the top of his glasses.

“Wouldn't want to split us up _now_ , would ya?”

Karkat glares, the _don't get cocky, dumbass_ clear on his face.

The guy laughs, a light, airy sound. “Oh, screw it, then. I'll ask my da- I mean General Harley-uh, authority- to validate the change.”

Military kid. Dave just knew it.

"Your name?" Officer Jake Harley asks, grinning. Dave only now notices that his one arm isn't moving.

"Vantas. Karkat."

"Uh. Strider. Dave Strider. Sir."

Karkat gives a startled "wha-" as all the colour drains from the officer's face.

Dave himself mustn’t be looking too great, because wait, wait, he almost-

"Strider, you say?" Harley says, eyes much too focused all of a sudden and scanning Dave's face almost hungrily. _Oh, God, no,_ Dave thinks, _please no-_

"Y-you have any siblings, Strider?"

"Used to, yeah." Dave manages, and Jake (it is jake it is he can see it and the green eyes like dirk said oh god) makes a noise like someone just physically wounded him, like someone just tore out his heart through his ribcage, like Sollux made at Aradia's funeral, and goes "oh".

"Shall we go then, sir?" Karkat asks, ever the tone of polite respect, and Dave could _kiss_ him right now, would gladly throw himself at his feet, anything just to get away from the pretty pretty boy with the bright green eyes in front of him.

"Go, yes-" is all the other gets out, choking on his words.

Dave has to physically restrain himself to keep from running away as fast as he can.

"What the _hell_ was _that_ right there, Strider" is the first thing Karkat says.

The next is "You know what, actually, I don't want to know."

Dave thinks the whole “wanting to kiss him” thing might be staying for a while.

–--

(Dave tells the other three he’s leaving and they look put off but not surprised.

John punches him in the shoulder and says "catch you there, you opportunistic loser". Sollux snorts a "wow what a backstabber" but shakes his hand too.

Tavros looks a bit let down ("aw, hun, no" dave says and tavros laughs) but he "totally gets it though, uh," so all in all the goodbyes go very well.

He doesn't tell them about the way he literally hides behind someone every time he sees Jake on his own.

Instead he waves them off and flips them the bird as they leave the next day, crowing with laughter when Tavros trips and knocks John over.)

–---

He gets to meet the rest of the Mounties.

To his delight, they're all stuck up, pompous idiots.

Eqiuus is this guy with the torso of an actual bull, Dave can't even imagine how much training went into that. He's quiet, awkward and likes mechanics.

He's also extremely stuck up, but Dave gets the idea he's actually trying to be nice. It’s hilarious.

("eqiuus, meet dave, who is also a giant douche." "ah, uh. greetings.")

Eridan, on the other hand, is completely unapologetic in his classist views.

He's so ridiculously upper class it boggles Dave's mind. He didn't even think this kind of person _existed_ , let alone in Australia.

For some reason, he and Karkat get along weirdly well. It makes his head hurt to think about it.

("you know, kar, for a pathetic lower class runt, you're quite bearable sometimes." "go die in a hole, ampora")

The others are vaguely nice, definitely uninteresting people. He doesn't really have much time for the boring ones.

With the obnoxious other three, well-

Dave fits in easily.

–---

He and Karkat wander around the streets of Medina aimlessly on their last day of training.

He catches sight of Vriska, perched on top of a building with Terezi by her side, and waves.

Vriska smirks at him and Terezi laughs.

"Leaving so soon?" Vriska asks, words flowing smoothly, her accent faint. "When you kill all the mean Turks, you come back?"

She snickers.

"Damn straight." Dave says sarcastically, rolling his shoulders. "We'll bring you back the Kaiser's head, that good enough?"

Vriska cackles, and Terezi howls with laughter. Dave wonders how much they understand of this whole stupid war.

"Good _bye_ , Da-ve, Kaarrkat." Terezi says, tone just a bit mocking.

Dave salutes. Karkat frowns.

They head off, fading into the thrum of raucous calls and little kids swarming around them like a flock of bees.

Their skinny arms clutch at them as they cry out.

"Buy souvenir? Real cheap, real cheap!"

"Feed family, please, no money!"

Karkat hands them each a coin.

Dave stares.

"I'm not exactly going to buy myself a pair of boots in the trenches, am I?" Karkat snaps, tone a bit too defensive.

Dave grins, infuriatingly (he does that best after all), then ruffles his hair. "Aren't you the little saint, kid."

"FOR THE LAST TIME-”

His laughter is lost in the music of the street.

–---

"Wanna race up to the pyramids?" Karkat says, as the sun turns bloody in the skies.

"Are you insane?" Dave replies, eyeing the distant spots.

Karkat grins, teeth sharp and eyes gleaming. "That's not a no."

(With that look on his face, Dave _really_ kind of wants to do something rather different, but he’s not crazy.)

–--

He _runs_. This beats their previous races, all of them, this beats the race to Gamzee, because now they're not weak or tired or out of shape and it's all just for laughs but he _runs_.

He speeds through the streets, at an advantage here in the city landscape because he knows when to jump over the carts and which alleys to turn down into and where he can clamber up the fastest.

His chest aches and burns.

Out in the open Karkat gains on him, and they're racing head to head and _it hurts_ but it's a good kind of hurt, and now Karkat's gone in front and he speeds up, and they're both cheating horribly, tripping and pushing and pulling at each other.

They slam into the wall, dirty and full of scrapes and gleaming with sweat.

Dave is coughing out laughs, wheezing for breath, and Karkat is shaking silently, swallowing great gasps of air.

When they've recovered, they climb slowly to the top, knocking each other around.

“Race you there.” Karkat wheezes, and Dave hiccups with laughter.

They watch the stars come out, silent in the warm breeze of the southern summers.

This close, Dave can hear the steady beat of Karkat’s heart.

–---

The boat is silent, humming with excitement and fear.

It's a different kind of silence, uncomfortable and nervous. Karkat is still, brows furrowed.

Dave feels half separated from them all, like a bird flying overhead and watching the little ship approach the enemy's beaches.

They're all still idealistic, convinced they're fighting for the greater good, that they'll win, that this filthy war is like some kind of adventure from a pirate story.

Dave's not an idealist. He knows this war is pointless, some grubby old men's quest for power, and that Gallipoli is one of their worst ideas yet.

They know nothing of the Turks, and the people defending their homeland are always the stronger ones.

But he doesn't see death for them just yet, doesn't really feel like it's there, can't really quite grasp that all these people are going to die so soon.

There's a loud crashing sound, jolting him from his reverie.

From above, suddenly, cannons start booming. The silence abruptly shifts into chaos, men shouting and cannons blasting and explosions all around them lighting up their faces in the obscurity.

The flashing light makes it seem like slow-motion, and Dave only catches glimpses of Karkat's startled expression, gripping onto the railing for balance.

Near them, they hear a resounding crack- a boat has been hit. Screams arise from the smoke.

And here, honestly, Dave almost feels like maybe luck is on his side, for once (twice thrice but shhh) because Eridan is there, his posh facade gone and his face determined.

"Get your wits together!" he snaps, sailor's hands deft, and everyone jumps to work as this poncy little jerk barks out orders and grips the ropes and hauls them in.

They jump into the water when they get close enough, running frantically towards the beach.

Eridan grits his teeth and pulls the boat in, and Karkat pauses to help, so then of course Dave has to help too, Eqiuus joining them quickly, and he feels fear seize him as they work, _right in the open_ like sitting ducks.

They dock the boat and run up the beach to the camp, aching and out of breath. "Good job, lads." barks out a commanding officer, and Dave sneers at him to convey the _aye, and thanks for your help_ that he can't quite say.

The other crew run up to slap them on the back, laughing a bit ashamedly, and Eridan looks honestly flustered at the positive attention he's getting.

With his hair in a curly mess, his sooty, sweaty face and his glasses askew, he almost makes Dave feel like ruffling his hair fondly.

Instead, he punches him in the shoulder. "Not bad, Ampora!"

"Nice going, ED." Karkat says, crooked smile in place.

They get shown around by a bunch of tired soldiers who look more bored than anything. "Ye'll get blown up here, here, here and there, so don't go there, aight? Here, here and here, are rockfalls, the Turks like wandering about here, and the rest is all yers."

They sleep heavily that night, nerves in shambles but feeling secure.

Dave hears the ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum of Karkat's heartbeat and falls asleep to its steady beat.

–--

It's funny how quickly you can adapt to your surroundings.

After a couple of days, they're all immune to the explosions that constantly hit the camp.

Dave's water is blown out of his hand one day, singing his fingers with black, and his only reaction is to swear at the loss of a good bottle.

The crashing and booming have long faded to background noise, the injured are a natural part of the scenery.

Deaths are relatively few- they mostly just sit around waiting, so there's not much of a chance to get killed once you've docked. On the other hand, everyone visits the infirmary to nab a bandage at least twice a day.

Dave and Karkat's feelings about the place are basically flipsides of each other.

"Come on, Vantas, it's not like you can mind the _not dying_ part- oh, who'm I kiddin', course you can, you bleedin' martyr."

"That's not what I said and you know it! It's just- I hate doing nothing! We could be stuck on a rock in outer space and we'd be doing the same."

"It's like you _want_ me to throw you off this cliff."

"Shut up, Strider, seriously. The only thing _you_ dislike here is that you feel like you're part of a team. Listen to my gasps of horror!"

"Can you really blame me for not enjoying the _sheep_ experience? I don't exactly to feel too fond of sitting around like cannon fodder in storage."

"If you two could stop arguin' like an old married couple, some of us are tryin' ter write home!" Eridan shouts plaintively. Dave snorts. Karkat hisses.

Eqiuus is silent, hand steady as he writes.

Dave, always the observer, makes it his mission to hear about them gals back home.

It takes him some time.

–---

Eridan is easy, because Eridan loves talking about himself. Eqiuus is very private, but he cracks after Karkat starts needling him.

In the end, they end up talking around a camp-fire, fireflies humming around them as they tell their stories.

Feferi Peixes is "the glubbin' prettiest gal any of you unfortunate sods could ever imagine", a sweet but strong-willed wild child of the docks. She's horrendously upper class, and stunningly down to earth about it.

Her letters back read like sea-shell sea-chimes ringing in the breeze, bubbly with joyfulness and teasing lightly. Her packages always contain small gifts for all of them- Dave swears Karkat almost cries when he receives a tiny crab from her once.

Eridan has two photographs of her- one in her full lady gear, as Dave puts it, hair in neat ringlets and dress superbly made. Her expression is pensive, figure full of that grace and silent power that belong to the high upper class. The other one is one of the nicest things Dave has ever seen, a slightly blurred shot of her on the beach, hair billowing in the wind, looking beautifully free and happy. Freckles dust her cheeks, her smile bright even in the black and white snapshot. This one is practically paper thin in some places, worn out by the number of times it's been looked at.

Dave wishes he was rich too, sometimes, just so he could take a million photographs like that one.

Eqiuus' little cousin Nepeta is the one he writes home to.

Nepeta's letters are irregular but long, filled with little drawings. Eqiuus has no photos of her, but she sends them an auto-portrait when she hears about their curious questions. She's younger than them by a couple of years, curly hair in a bob and almost cat-like, wide eyes filed with mischief. Her smile is wicked.

Dave loves her letters like he loves the sound of young trees crackling in spring when birds perch on their branches. She lives somewhere in New-Wales, worlds away from even Feferi. Despite the worry that creases Eqiuus' brow when he reads her letters, protectiveness turning his gaze to the sea as if he could see her on the other side, he carves her little figurines from the different kinds of driftwood he finds.

Nepeta leaves a little space to talk to the rest of them on the back of each letter, asking in a teasing tone to watch over 'purr old Eqiuus' and to keep her up to date with all 'pawssible romantic developments'. Between her cat jokes and Feferi's fondness for fish, Dave wonders if they would be friends.

She's maybe a little in love with Karkat. Karkat is both fond and mortified when he realises it.

Karkat himself gets mocked relentlessly at first when they see how many letters he's writing. ("whoa, karkles, your mam sure did teach you to treat your dame properly" "shut up, they're not to my _girlfriend")_

Ms Kanaya Maryam is a sophisticated, faintly teasing young woman whose letters are always filled with _double-entendres_ and inside jokes that make Karkat laugh and refuse to answer their questions. Her sister Porrim also likes commenting, loopy curls and dark green ink scrawling over the side of the letter. Porrim's comments are less often read out loud, as they concern someone called Kankri that makes Karkat's smile freeze and Dave want to hit the next person that asks him about it.

Kanaya's letters are finely perfumed, and she often sends new clothes to the group. For Karkat's birthday, roughly three months after their arrival, she sends a grey sweater that he wears every evening regardless of the heat.

Dave reads her letters like a kiss on the cheek and a faint peppermint smell.

Kanaya is no relation to Karkat, but for all other purposes she is his older sister-fussing over him, teasing and being teased. Dave feels fond of her almost by default.

His other letters are sent to an address with no name and marked with a cancer sign. If he receives replies to them, he doesn't feel the need to share them.

Dave doesn't send letters much. He writes to Rose and Terezi once, as a joke, and doesn't hear anything back.

He sends AR a short note twice, with the same message.

_Still alive. D._

No one mentions it, but he doesn't fail to notice the way they all share a little bit more with him than the others.

–---

It's been three months and a half of doing nothing and they're all the same golden colour by now, freckles spread like stars on everyone's shoulders and faces. Dave's a pale boy by nature, but his cheeks and nose have been completely splattered. Eridan's entire face is covered. Karkat's nose is the only part of his face to have been 'contaminated', as he puts it smugly, just to watch Eridan splutter indignantly.

They go swimming in the afternoon, splashing under the waves.

"Dare you to go get the hook from the Belle-Marie?" someone asks lazily. The different divisions shout, clamoring for volunteers.

Dave meets Eridan's eyes. "We'll do it."

They dive in, holding their breath as they kick down towards the sunken remains of the little ship. The cheering from above becomes distorted.

Dave's pale hair, turned bleached by the sea-water and the sun, floats around his face as they scavenge.

His trained eyes spot the glint first. He dives, a fluid motion that catches their attention and calls them to him.

Everything feels slowed down, yet they move quickly- going back up for air would make their victory less sweet.

Under water everyone looks rather eerie and mystic, he's found. He catches Karkat's eyes and waves.

He waves back, and then there's a resounding crash- the Turks are shooting at them.

A piece of shrapnel narrowly misses Karkat, who dances out of the way, hair like a halo as he moves.

Eridan's ripping at the wall, then Eqiuus grips the hook and pulls, a powerful movement that sends them all flying upwards when it breaks free.

They swim upwards in a frenzy, zig-zagging through the falling metal, and Dave thinks _shit_ and _we're going to be blocked under water. Everything is going too slowly, much too slowly,_ and then Karkat spots the opening and gives a surprisingly efficient push, and they're all out and gasping for air. Dave's lungs ache.

Eqiuus curses under his breath, and they spot the streaming blood- he's taken shrapnel to the knee. They haul him out, follow the group of cheering youths that carry him to the infirmary as he throws his arms in the air with their trophy gripped tightly in his hands. Dave collects the money and goods from the bet with a sly smirk.

They walk back to their tents late in the evening, Eqiuus a little stiff but mostly recovered, all high on their victory.

There's a few shouts, and oh- a new group's just been transferred over and managed to dock.

Dave looks at Karkat, who shrugs. They split off from the other two and stumble down to the beach.

“Someone else to join the party.” Karkat grumbles, and Dave snorts. The new arrivals all look ridiculous with their wide eyes and tense expressions. Dave’s pretty sure he never looked like that.

Someone trips as they exit the boat, and Dave reaches out to steady them.

"Thanks," says Tavros, before freezing. "Dave?!"

“Well, shit.” Dave says, and doesn’t that just send him down memory lane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone dies next chapter
> 
> thanks to all the lovely ppl who've commented- @ash-fave, i'm happy i'm doing your country justice ;)  
> (also, @theknightofdoom, everytime i see your comments i get just as excited!)


	3. you and i at the end of time, old friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As if there could ever have been a happy ending to this one.
> 
> "Dave does nothing.
> 
> He lies on his back, watching the few clouds there are in this foreign hell and mind void of any sudden insight. He wonders if you're meant to have some kind of epiphany when you're about to die- does that really happen outside of the carefully crafted lies that their governments send back home, or is it just his mind that continues down its usual path of nonsensical thoughts?
> 
> He doesn't know. He doesn't ask, either.
> 
> In his head, he writes letters."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what a nice story  
> ps someone dies

John and Sollux aren't very far away from Tavros, and in an instant Dave is reunited with his oldest friends.

They laugh and shout and ruffle each other's hair and end up sitting huddled around the lantern Eqiuus managed to get going again.

There's a lot to say, and yet not so much.

They trade stories, taunt and argue; Dave shows them around.

They all take to Karkat immediately, to Dave's mock disgust.

"Why. Why do my friends always desert me."

"Maybe your friends have better taste than you, Strider." Karkat says snidely. John doubles over laughing.

Dave feels strangely proud, has to stop himself from latching on to Karkat like he always feels like doing.

Sollux and Eridan start bickering from the moment they lay eyes on each other, and Dave is going to make them _pay_ for all the married couple jokes he's had to endure from them (both about John and Karkat).

Tavros is still endearingly shy and awkward, but he somehow gets Eqiuus talking mechanics, so in the end Dave ends up between John and Karkat, and as their voices intertwine and float off into the skies, he feels alarmingly at home.

Safe, almost.

Happy? Perhaps.

Of course, that's basically him signing away all his luck, because let's face it- fate was never on the Strider's side for long.

And he was meant to remember that.

He thinks back, later, and wonders if the chilly breeze that made them stand up at last wasn't some sort of warning from beyond the grave, Dirk's serious eyes the glinting metal of the lantern he carried away.

_Remember what happened to me._

He’s always been the worst of the four at heeding warnings.

–---

They have a few more weeks of this little paradise Dave's made for himself in hell ("of course dave would be at his happiest in a war, like some bloody knight" john laughs. "hey, karkat's worse than me" dave answers, dodging the bullet) before a strange tension arises.

It's one of those inexplicable moods everyone has, where they don't know what exactly it is yet, but they know that _something'_ s going to happen.

Sollux and Dave exchange tired, knowing glances when they hear that there are orders coming.

The orders come the first day of the second month: Dave sees Jake Harley for the first time in forever, looking terribly worn out despite his well-kept appearance.

He clears his throat, raises his chin, and announces: "Troops! The British army has just transmitted a message- they'll be conducting an operation not too far from here, that could be the key to success here in Gallipoli. It is therefore imperative for us to attack the Turks to put in place an attack on two fronts, ensuring the Brits' success further north!"

A disbelieving rumble of voices rises from the troops. They've been here too long to think this is going to be a glorious attack.

"Does this British operation stand a chance at all?" Eridan asks, tone scathing.

"Well", Jake starts, "It certainly seems our best option at the moment."

High Officer Scratch, the British commander that supervises them, nods serenely from next to him.

Bitter laughter.

"We're going to get slaughtered as a distraction, aren't we?" Dave says harshly, his voice clear and loud. He raises his eyes to meet Jake's green ones.

Jake flinches, false cheer disappearing.

Before he can speak, General Harley has taken over, booming voice reassuring. "Nonsense, my boy! On the contrary! We all know-"

But by now it is too late. They've all seen the look on Jake's face.

The troops stay quiet, seething with anger, until the General leaves, accompanied by Scratch, who's probably hoping for another promotion.

"Tomorrow, the first wave. Four o' clock sharp. Then Tuesday. We'll be putting up the lists."

The troops explode.

"SENT OFF TO OUR BLOODY DEATHS-"

"They can't make us do this, it's bloody incredible-"

"Surely you can stop them-"

"THE BASTARDS-"

Not a single one of them turns on Harley. His broken expression make it clear to anyone asking that if he had his way he'd already be shipping them all back home to safety.

Dave feels an unstoppable hatred rise in him, for these British officers and their heartlessness, these Europeans and their bloody war, for these _murderers_ in their comfy castles sending all this youth away to die for nothing at all.

He remembers Bro telling him he'd explode one day if he didn't put a lid on his anger, but this is much worse than that, because this isn't a great roaring lion of an anger, this is a black poison that pulls him down and fills his veins with a dark loathing.

He knows already, he knows, of course he knows, that it won't help, that they'll all die.

The crowd quietens all too fast. They all know it, too, to different extents.

They fade away in little groups, silent and resigned.

Gone is the hopeful excitement that awaited the announcement. If they're serving as distraction, there's no way they'll make it.

 

–--

They sit together, no one looking directly at anyone else.

Sollux rubs at his eyes, sighing lightly. "Well, here we go off towards our certain doom. Nice knowing you, athholes." His lisp is thickened by the barely suppressed loathing in his voice.

Karkat makes a pained sound. Sollux looks at him, hard.

He turns to Eridan instead, wearing a twisted grimace of a smile. "Don't you have some amazing message of hope to add?"

Eridan raises his head. "Do I look fuckin' hopeful to you?"

Sollux snorts.

"Hey, I mean. It was always a matter of time." Dave says dryly.

Karkat rolls his eyes. "Oh, because that makes it so much better. I'll soon be drowning in a puddle of my own blood, but at least it was meant to happen, hurr durr."

"What a speech, Karkat. Let me just write it down so I can recite it with my dying breath." John snickers, nudging him.

Tavros, eyes still downcast, sighs miserably. "I'd, uh, prefer to not have to use a dying breath at all."

The faint tone of camaraderie disappears, leaving them in morose silence yet again.

"Best go write your letters home, huh." Dave says, dusting himself off and standing up.

He can feel Karkat’s eyes on him as he walks away.

–---

Dave sits and stares at the sea while the others write their letter.

He sat observing them for a while first- he likes people watching.

The only problem is that he naturally starts analysing them.

He knows from Eridan's careful pauses that he's asking Fef something important, and the way he looks hard at the letter makes it pretty clear what he's asking.

(Dave doesn’t think she would say yes anyway, but he gets it.)

Eqiuus's furrowed brow and the forceful strokes he uses make him guess that it's some sort of code or number- he's probably leaguing his money to Nepeta in case something goes wrong.

John's letter to Jade takes less time to write than usual, so Dave knows he's not trying to sugar-coat anything. That's good, too, because Jade hates people lying to her.

He wishes Jade were here, all of a sudden, and then thanks the heavens she’s not.

Tavros breathes shakily when he writes his. It's to his mother, and Dave doesn't have to think long to know that he's telling her she might lose another one of her boys to the war machine.

It's only Karkat that Dave can't read, because his grip is steady as always, his letter is just as long and neat as usual, and his face is nothing but concentrated.

It is then that he realizes that he's been prying into their minds and goes out.

He's glad he scraped together a few cents around here, because at least AR will get something to live off- not that the kid isn't capable of scraping through regardless.

All he has to do then is keep lying low- he's still got two years before he'll necessarily be signed up and Dave point blank refuses to believe the war will longer than that. It certainly does feel endless now, but if nothing else there aught to be too little able-bodied men left to fight by then. Maybe they'll start enlisting the women then.

He imagines their girls in full military gear. For some reason, they look a great deal more efficient than the men he knows.

“Sign the women up to fight! A new petition proposed by the Australian government, to be put in place by January 1917- all Australians and Kiwis must immediately report for duty. Women can win this war!"

It's surprisingly easy to imagine the campaign and its posters.

For a moment, Dave almost forgets that he's the one sitting in the trenches, waiting for the order to go over the top.

A cannon booms not too far away, and he goes to sleep outside, on the rocky ground.

–---

He wakes up covered by a rough blanket, Karkat and John speaking in hushed tones not too far away.

"We're second wave with Eridan." Karkat says when he sits up. "Everyone else is going over the top today."

John smiles at him as if to say _don't worry about it, old chum._ Dave feels his hands curl into fists.

–--

By three fifteen the troops are ready to go up to the top trenches. There are a great deal of goodbyes being said, some of the men trying to be light-hearted and some quiet and heart-felt. A few of them are crying. No one points it out.

Dave pats their backs, then gets pulled into a hug by John.

"I might be a bit scared." John breathes into his neck.

"Egbert..." Dave says. He can't lose them.

Karkat says his goodbyes gruffly, looking almost pretty with his eyes shining too brightly and his lip bleeding from where he's bitten it.

Eridan surprises them all by hugging all four of them. Eqiuus pats him stiffly. Tavros squeaks. John laughs comfortingly. For a moment Dave thinks Sollux is going to push him away (he thinks _please dont_ and stares at him hard) but he lets him, patting his hair as he pulls away. "Don't get emotional _now_ , ED."

They set off with pale faces.

–---

Eridan heads for the cliffs.

The shooting starts at four, accompanied by shouts and agonized screams. Dave sits gripping his gun so tightly it creaks.

He _hates_ them, he hates them, he hates them

He's half there half somewhere else, a part of him screaming the injustice of it all to the skies with the blood of his friends burning him like fire and the other already gone, distant and disbelieving.

He's only ever felt this dually impaired once before, when Dirk died and nothing really seemed to m a t t e r

(and he didnt get out of bed for a week and bro stayed with him the whole time and when he got up the next day bro was gone)

He feels the cloud descend, swirling masses he can't control, numb to the bone. _Let it come._

Karkat shakes him roughly.

"Hey, stop zoning out, I have something for you."

Dave looks up, blinking slowly, focusing on his face (when did everything get so blu r r ed) and giving a slow: "What is it?"

Karkat hands him a paper and a pen.

"For your brother. Write something."

Dave goes "oh" then "yeah, all right" and the world shifts back into focus ever so slightly.

–--

Later, they sit with their backs to the wall, waiting. It's been an hour. The noise is getting quieter.

"Who's Kankri?" Dave asks.

"Dirk." Karkat says.

"Do you miss him?"

"Do you?"

"Ah." says Dave.

–--

They come back in shambles. It is a loud mess of blood and death, loud because of its heavy silence and the confusion that comes with it. Here, in this mass of faltering life, there is no distinction between men- there is only the same sense of despair, the bone-deep cry for help that comes much too late.

Dave rushes through, Karkat by his side.

Karkat is shouting, and boy is Dave ever grateful for his super-human capacity of letting his voice be heard, because he shouts out "JOHN!" and there's a flash of dulled blue eyes that look up.

Dave nearly sobs with relief, because of all of them he couldn't, couldn't lose _John_ and he runs to him, pulls him out of the fray.

John's eyes are unfocused.

"Hey! Hey! Egbert! Look at me- look at me. What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Karkat snaps.

John's eyes find his face.

He looks dazed more than anything when he starts speaking slowly.

"Tav is gone. He was...he was..standing right next to me? And...there was...and then...in front of me...and he got hit? He's gone...Tav is gone, Dave, Tav is gone."

His tone is frantic when he finishes talking, eyes jumping from Karkat's stricken expression to Dave's.

Dave feels his chest constrict painfully. His eyes scan the crowd, as if trying to distinguish Tavros' freckled, ruddy face from the rest. Tavros? But Tavros...

"Is that-Eqiuus?" he asks instead.

"He got hit in the lung. He choked to death." John says, voice detached. He seems rather absent.

The noise around them seems amplified, like Dave's sinking into the ground, pierced twice through the heart. He can't move, can't b r e a t h e at all

Eqiuus was still carving his figurine for Nepeta this morning, it's still lying in the tent, and Tavros had been sitting right next to Dave for breakfast, and now they're gone and what, no, he refuses, they can't leave him too

he'd never even paid Tavros back for that book he'd bought him, and didn't Eqiuus say he'd show him how to fix his watch a day ago, now what now what now what-

and Karkat is sitting John down and holding his chin so that he looks at him, clicking his tongue to keep him concentrated, and Dave backs away slowly, shaking his head, and there's a screech that can only belong to one person here and he turns and runs to the infirmary because _what now_ -

The infirmary is even worse, filled with screaming and crying bodies writhing in pain that aren't even _people_ anymore and he remembers walking in on Dirk's crumpled form and _no please_

Eridan isn't screeching anymore, silent next to a bed. Dave looks over his shoulder at Sollux, brain whirring as he scientifically processes the damage. Limbs? Yes. Breathing? Yes. Eyes? Maybe not.

"...your stupid whining, ED, seriously." Sollux is saying, but his whole body is twitching while terrified tears stream down Eridan's face.

Dave can't really blame him, to be honest- Sollux is a sore sight for the eyes. Around his head, a careful bandage has been wrapped, but it doesn't stop the way his entire face is covered in the dark, gooey red leaking from his eyes. The fleshy, white bits splattering his shirt are also dripping with red- if Dave wasn't feeling sick before, he is now.

He doesn't quite understand how Sollux is even conscious at this point.

He turns around and walks right out again.

–--

Eridan has to be physically hauled out of the infirmary by nightfall. He’s gone off, slightly- rich pampered little boy just now seeing what war really does to people.

He doesn't sleep that night, quickening breaths vaguely hysterical.

Karkat's eyes are bloodshot, and his fingers are bleeding from pulling at his pendant too often, but his breaths do not vary in their speed.

Dave sits outside, head propped up by his bag.

_Silly, silly boy,_ the ocean mocks. He imagines a twisted image of Feferi, waving her finger at him with a terrible grin. _Silly little soldier boy gone off to die._

_Playing the hero and getting himself blown up._ Dirk says, sixteen forever in his mind. _Real smart, Davie_.

Still, he does not cry.

He's never cried before, not even when Dirk died. Maybe they're all just broken, useless little robots, then, this glorious Strider family, and he's the worst of the lot.

It doesn't stop him from feeling it, this great universal fear coursing through him, just as strong as his earlier hatred- he doesn't want to die.

–---

They are quiet and subdued the next day. Barely a tenth of the previous troops made it back yesterday- today, there is no effect of surprise to help them.

He goes to see John, hands him his broken watch and tells him to fix it for him. John's going home soon- "in shock", they said. Lost, is what Dave thought.

Sollux is going too, but Dave doubts he'll last the trip.

Well. Not to say John's not already gone.

"Keep it ticking, allright, bud?"

He's lost track of time.

What does it matter? They're going over at four.

Eridan is quiet, grim. He swims until they're called up.

Karkat seems almost peaceful. It's profoundly unsettling. He takes out his compass and sits on the highest point he can find, staring at nothing in particular. Dave knows he's looking up at where Cancer sits in the skies, hidden by the sun's mocking beams.

Dave does nothing.

He lies on his back, watching the few clouds there are in this foreign hell and mind void of any sudden insight. He wonders if you're meant to have some kind of epiphany when you're about to die- does that really happen outside of the carefully crafted lies that their governments send back home, or is it just his mind that continues down its usual path of nonsensical thoughts?

He doesn't know. He doesn't ask, either.

In his head, he writes letters.

_Dear Rose,_

_You are the most marvellous creature I have ever met. Go find Kanaya._

_Dear Terezi,_

_Sorry for not bringing you the Kaiser’s head. You should do it yourself. You’ll manage._

_Dear AR,_

_I’m sorry._

_Dear Bro,_

_Why did you do it?_

_Dear Dirk,_

_I’ll be seeing you soon._

_Dear Karkat,_

_I don’t want to die._

–--

Three thirty, they march up to the highest trenches. The ground is covered in dry blood. Above them, across the little stretch of barren land, lie the Turkish with their machine-guns. With them lies Death, hand outstretched and smile sickly sweet.

Dave sits in the shade, wiping his brow, until someone pokes at him. He squints upwards. "Strider, isn't it?" asks Scratch, on his last inspection.

Dave barely scrapes up the civility to nod.

"You've been chosen as our runner between here and the office, should it be needed. Rather a lucky escape, eh?"

Dave blinks. Scratch smiles.

It transforms his neutral face into something disturbingly unpleasant.

When he's gone, Dave rounds on Karkat immediately.

"Looks like you won't be fighting after all, huh?" Karkat says, tone carefully unreadable.

" _Karkat_ -" Dave says, strangled, "You _can't_ -"

"Well, too bad for you, honestly, once we take them over-"

"You _can't_ , I won't do it-"

"I mean, think of how people will laugh at you when they hear you weren't even in the fight-"

" _YOU CAN'T DO THIS, YOU SON OF A-"_

Karkat stills, whirls around. His eyes are fierce. "It's too late for that now, OK? You're running."

Dave's eyes sting. "You're _faster_ than I am."

"They don't think so." Karkat says.

"Because of _you_ -"

"Dave, please."

He doesn't want to "dave, please". He wants to scream and hit him, and say _no_ and _why the hell would you do this, why would you let me live instead_ and _you can't die too_ and throw his "please" back in his face.

Instead, he remains silent, watching Karkat watch him.

–---

Three forty, Jake Harley is there, checking their positions. "Runner, go get me a phone!" he shouts. He's tragically easy to read- he looks heart-broken from yesterday's losses. Dave runs, into the office and back.

He spots Scratch's car up ahead, far from the battle already, nearly reaching the safety of the British camps.

"Here, sir."

"Oh, thank you, uh?" Jake looks up to find his name. "Oh. Strider."

The name he finds, of course, is a little painful.

"Sir."

Jake grabs the phone, ripping his eyes away with difficulty and dialling. "Hello? Yes? Ah- Scratch- yes, can you put me through to- oh."

He frowns.

"You're the authority? Ah. Well, I must insist that- no, quite pointless- tremendous loss of life, really- it's a slaughterhouse up here, goddamnit, man!"

Scratch speaks, smooth voice soft but nerve-grating even from where Dave stands.

"Yes, I understand. The operation will proceed." Jake says tightly.

–---

Three fifty, they're all standing ready to shoot. Dave stands next to Karkat, earlier grievance forgiven. What can he do? He's not going to hold a grudge against a dying man.

Instead, he amuses him with his long-winded speeches about nothing at all, bitter-sweet triumph in his chest when he manages to make him smile briefly.

(Fifty one, Karkat hands him his compass mid-sentence.

"Don't take it personally, city-boy. I'm just handing it to you as a consolation prize after we get over there."

"As if I want your stupid hand me down piece of junk." Dave scoffs.

They're not very good, he thinks, at dealing with emotions.)

Fifty two, Karkat nudges him. "He's still watching you."

Jake looks at Dirk right through him.

“I-” Dave says to Karkat, and has nothing to say that’s enough.

“Go on.” Karkat says, nodding at him.

Dave turns and goes.

"Sir?" Dave says, when he gets to Jake. _Don't._

His jaw is clenched. "Go tell my father to lay it off. It's your last chance."

"Sir!" Dave says, brain carefully blank, resisting the _what now, oh god, he could, maybe, is there_ -

"Oh, and Strider?"

He sees it coming too late.

"You must know, truthfully, that I was rather frightfully in love with him myself."

Dave can't answer, so he nods once, jerkily, and runs.

He can't think about _that_ , not now,

(not ever really)

but especially not when he's practically a blur of sped up time,

bones almost cracking with exertion as he

runs and runs and runs

down to the General's tent.

–---

**(now)**

_runrunrunrunrunrunrunrunrun_

–---

'TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!' Jake roars, and _of course he's decided he can't let them go without him_ , Dave thinks hopelessly, but he's _so close_ he's just a corner away, he's so nearly there, he's _s o_ _c l o s e_

– _\----_

_'ON MY MARK!'_

– _\--_

he runs around the corner as if time had ceased to exist

"STOP!" Dave shouts at the top of his lungs, "STOP!"

it's

too

Jake's voice rises above his just before he starts, giving the signal.

–---

They jump over the top with a desperate cry, half of them hit before they can even start running.

Dave sees everything as if standing still, everyone's movements so tragically slow that it hurts.

Jake thuds down in front of him, green eyes dulling before he even spots him. Red blossoms spread across his chest as he falls.

Eridan, nearby, gets cut almost cleanly in half by a flying piece of metal. His eyes are wide.

He spots Karkat, running impossibly fast, _impossibly_ fast, hears an _impossible_ shout of pain as his gun fires and _finds its target_ , and for a glorious, delirious moment he thinks _he's going to take them all down by himself_ before both machine-guns open their fire on him alone and he is pierced one, twice,

too many times

his back arching gracefully as he falls lifeless

nearly half way to the Turkish line

 

the guns still.

not a single man is standing.

Karkat's body tumbles downwards, and it's like someone's unfrozen him from his stupor by dousing him with fire.

he screams

s c r e a m s

it's a horrible, inhumane cry of pain and hatred

and now he's crying, now he's really crying, and he's never cried before but he doesn't think _anyone_ has cried like this before, and it's so loud and _raw_ that the enemy trench falls silent too

He climbs up onto the ground, stumbles over to where Karkat lies, and all he can see through his blurred vision is the bright red and the glint of silver from where his pendant lies unsullied.

He _wishes_ he really was a robot now, he wishes he could rip his heart out of his chest and crush it to pieces, he wishes he couldn’t feel because it _hurts so bad_ , all he wants is for it to stop, all he wants is _Karkat_ -

Almost hesitantly, a single gunshot rings out.

He's still sobbing, loud, body-racking sobs, his hands clutching at Karkat, when it pierces his chest.

He sees red, then he sees white. The tears are streaming down his face.

(he thinks 'it hurts _so much'_ and then everything becomes dark around them)

 

 

When they go get the bodies, Karkat's pendant is dripping with Dave's own scarlet blood.

'Poor sods off playing heroes' someone murmurs in dismay.

The sun burns brightly, never hidden by the acrid smell of Death's latest prizes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, that was cheerful.  
> thanks to everyone who read this, hope you enjoyed it (haha yeah right)- i'll be uploading actual recent fics pretty soon, so stay tuned ;)  
>  sorry for making it end this way :)

**Author's Note:**

> comment and you shall receive updates


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